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General News

Shark Images

written by Monique Fallows

Posted on Tuesday, 17 April 2012

Chris did not start out to be a shark or wildlife photographer. Rather his passion comes first from spending time with nature. Of course being one of the first people to document Great White sharks breaching gave way to the opportunity of also capturing this incredible wildlife spectacle on camera. His first photos of White sharks breaching were met with disbelief and also fascination. And the more he saw this amazing behaviour, the more he wanted to be able to obtain these amazing shark images. His ultimate shot was always to photograph the power of a White shark coming straight out of the water, white belly exposed and coming straight towards the camera. We had never seen a breach like this that was even close to photographing so when it actually happened it was unbelievable!

On 17 June 2001 we had just towed the decoy through all the hot areas with no action. Then over what is normally not a good area for breaching a huge 4 meter plus shark did the most incredible breach. The sharks normally always catch the decoy but this time the shark knocked the decoy with its snout. As the decoy soared above it, the shark was still trying to arch above it, mouth wide open to catch it, creating the perfect moment for an iconic shark image.

His first photos of White sharks breaching were met with disbelief and also fascination.

Chris was still shooting film in those days and as this was a Friday afternoon we had to wait until Monday morning before seeing the results. It was an agonising wait, not knowing if Chris had captured it or not! When we walked into the processing studio on that Monday the whole staff greeted us with huge excitement. They had seen the images and knew what it would mean!

Since then this photograph has become one of the most recognised wildlife images in the world and has been used on 100's of newspaper and magazine covers as well as in advertising campaigns. Many people have also purchased this image as a high quality art print.

A hunting Great White shark is a formidable sight and we are aware of how this image could be misused so one of our conditions of sale is that it may not be used in any way that is negative to sharks, but rather in a way that shows the raw power that an apex predator uses when in full hunting mode.

Link back to image for purchase: http://www.apexpredators.com/chris-fallows-art-store